How this calculator works
A beneficiary who is not an eligible designated beneficiary — most adult children and other non-spouse heirs — must empty an IRA inherited from an owner who died after 2019 by December 31 of the tenth year after the year of death. Whether anything is due before then depends on the owner. If the owner died before their required beginning date, nothing is required until the tenth year. If the owner died on or after it, the final regulations also require a minimum withdrawal in each of years one to nine, starting with 2025. A Roth IRA is always treated as if the owner died before the required beginning date.
The required beginning date is April 1 of the year after the owner reaches the applicable age: 72 for owners born from July 1949 to 1950, 73 for 1951 to 1958, and 75 for 1960 or later. When annual withdrawals apply, each year’s minimum is the previous year-end balance divided by the longer of two life expectancies from the IRS Single Life Table: the beneficiary’s, at their age in the year after the death, and the owner’s, at their age in the year of death. Each is reduced by one for every later year, never looked up again.
The page compares three plans that all empty the account on time: the minimum each year with the rest in the final year; even withdrawals of the balance divided by the years remaining (never less than the minimum); and everything in 2026. Federal tax on each withdrawal is the extra tax it adds to the other income, after the $16,100 single standard deduction (or the one for the filing status), using 2026 brackets for every year. Withdrawals are reinvested at the after-tax return to the deadline.
Worked example
With the defaults — an owner born in 1950 who died in 2025, a beneficiary born in 1972, and $500,000 at the end of 2025 — the owner had passed the required beginning date of April 1, 2023, so annual withdrawals apply and the account must be empty by the end of 2035. The beneficiary is 54 in 2026, with a life expectancy of 32.5 years, longer than the owner’s 13.8, so the 2026 minimum is $500,000 ÷ 32.5 = $15,385, which adds $3,656 of federal tax to $120,000 of other income for a single filer.
Taking only the minimum and the rest in 2035 costs $206,419 in federal tax and leaves $490,048 after tax at the end of 2035, assuming a 4% return after inflation and 3% on money withdrawn. Even withdrawals cost $143,713 and leave $518,459; taking everything in 2026 costs $162,564 and leaves $440,277. The minimum plan catches up with even withdrawals only if the account earns 6.27% a year after inflation.
How to read the result
The headline states which rule applies and the deadline; the table lists every year’s divisor, required minimum, and the withdrawals and tax under the minimum and even plans. Where the owner had reached the required beginning date, the required column must be taken each year whatever plan is chosen; skipping it brings a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, reduced to 10% if corrected in time.
The breakeven return compares deferral with spreading. Leaving money in the account longer lets it grow before tax, but the minimum plan pushes most of the balance into one tax year and into higher brackets. Below the breakeven return, even withdrawals leave more after tax; above it, deferral does. Higher other income narrows the bracket advantage of spreading and lowers the breakeven; a Roth has no tax, so its breakeven is simply the return on money withdrawn.
Assumptions and sources
- IRS, Publication 590-B (2025) — 10-year rule, required beginning date, Single Life Table (Appendix B, Table I), excise tax
- IRS, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2024-33 (T.D. 10001) — final regulations: annual distributions continue when the owner died on or after the required beginning date; applicable from 2025
- IRS, Notice 2024-35 — no excise tax for annual amounts missed in 2024; summarizes Notices 2022-53 (2021 and 2022) and 2023-54 (2023)
- IRS, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-45 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) — 2026 tax brackets and standard deduction
Checked October 2026. Amounts are in 2026 dollars with 2026 brackets applied to every year, so returns are entered after inflation. Not modelled: life expectancy payments for eligible designated beneficiaries (a surviving spouse, a minor child, a disabled or chronically ill person, or anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner); the owner’s own required distribution for the year of death; state tax; trusts, estates and successor beneficiaries. The applicable age for owners born in 1959 is reserved in the final regulations; 73 is used.
Common mistakes
- Waiting until year ten when the owner had reached the required beginning date. Annual minimums apply in years one to nine as well, from 2025.
- Counting ten years from the date of death. The deadline is December 31 of the tenth year after the year of death.
- Looking up the life expectancy again each year. The divisor is set once and reduced by one each year; looking it up again understates the minimum.
- Taking everything in the final year. A large balance in one tax year can be taxed at much higher rates than the same amount spread over ten.
- Treating an inherited Roth IRA like a traditional one. A Roth has no annual minimum under the 10-year rule, though it must still be emptied by the deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are annual RMDs required from an inherited IRA under the 10-year rule?
Only if the owner died on or after their required beginning date. Then the final regulations require a minimum each year from 2025 as well as an empty account by the end of the tenth year. If the owner died before that date, or the account is a Roth IRA, nothing is required until the tenth year.
When does the 10-year period end?
On December 31 of the tenth year after the year of death. For a death in 2025, the account must be empty by December 31, 2035.
What about RMDs missed from 2021 to 2024?
The IRS waived the excise tax on annual amounts missed under the 10-year rule for those years, and the final regulations apply from 2025. The deadline for emptying the account did not move, and the 2025 divisor is the original one reduced for the years that have passed.
Who is an eligible designated beneficiary?
A surviving spouse, a minor child of the owner, a disabled or chronically ill individual, or anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner. They can use life expectancy payments instead of the 10-year rule; this calculator models the 10-year rule only.
How is the required amount worked out?
The balance on December 31 of the previous year divided by a life expectancy from the IRS Single Life Table: the longer of the beneficiary’s, at their age in the year after the death, and the owner’s, at their age in the year of death, each reduced by one a year after that.